Anticreeper for railway rails



Dec. 2, 1930. J. RICHARDS ET AL 1,783,432

' ANTICREEPER FOR RAILWAY RAILS Filed March 10, 1950 Inventor A ttorneyPatented Dec. 2, 1930 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE i ANTIGBEEPER FORRAILWAY RAILS Application filed. March 10, 1930. Serial No. 434,703.

This invention relates to an attachment for railroad rails such as isgenerally referred to in the prior art as an anti-creeping device, thesame serving to restrict longitudinal slippage or creeping of the railsand to afford better anchorage of the rails on the adjacent cross-tie. I

We are aware of the fact that many types of appliances and devices havebeen patented to accomplish this same result. Therefore, in carrying thepresent invention into practice, We have developed a new form of devicewhich we believe is more practical and efficient than analagous priorart devices.

It follows that the principal purpose of the present invention is toprovide an anticreeping device which is susceptible of easy applicationand removal, which is dependable in action, an improvement upon knownprior art and used appliances, and to otherwise incorporate in saiddevice, features which will better fulfill the requirements of aninvention of this classification.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a view in elevation and section showing the conventionalrail and a portion of a tie with the anti-creeping device in operativeposition.

Figure 2 is a top plan view of the structure seen in Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a bottom plan view of the anticreeper, by itself.

In the drawings, in Figure 1, the cross ties are represented by thereference character 4 and the rail is generally designated by thereference character 5. The anti-creeper is indicated as a unit'by thenumeral 6.

In developing this device we have found it feasible and expedient toform the same from a single length of heavy wire of appropriateproperties, such as for instance, dependable tensile strength andyieldable maintaining and clamping action.

The wire is bent upon itself to form an upstanding handle or bail as at7. This is of general U-shaped form and the arm portions are bent as at8 to joint-the leg portions 9 in acute angular relationship and tothereby provide keepers to engageoverthe adjacent longitudinal edge ofthe base flange of the rail as seen clearly in Figure 1.

'The fact is that by bending the arm portions of the handlein the mannershown in Figure 1, the handle is rendered susceptible of easyapplication and removal and secure maintenance is assured. Theintermediate portions of the legs 9 are bent into resilient coils oreyes as at 10 and one of the eyes constitutes an abutment which bearsagainst the adjacent surface of the cross tie 4:-

The end portions 11 of the legs have their extremities formed withsuitable shaped hooks 12 which engage over the opposite edge portions ofthe base flange of the rail as shown in Figure 1. Incidently, the legsare disposed in inwardly converging relation-' s 1p.

Inpractice, the hooks 12 are engaged over one edge of the base flangewhereas the keepers 8 are engaged over the opposite edgeportion. Withthe tie beneath the baseflange one eye 10' rests against the cross tieas seen in dotted lines in Figure 2. i

It has been found, because of the excessive strength of the device thatit is generally necessary to use a crowbar or similar imple-' ment' inplacing it in position and removing it. 'The U-shaped configuration ofthe socalled handle 7 is advantageous in this respect in that itprovides an appropriate rest for the crowbar so that it can beconveniently handled for forcing the handle outwardly and therebydisengaging the keepers so that the device may be bodily detached.

Then too, the coils 10 are sufficiently resilient to allow thedisplacement of the portions of the device to facilitate its applicationand removal. The fact that the device itself is clamped firmly on therail, insures a dependable anti-creeper, since the device does not slip,and since it affords an appropriate abutment for resting against thecross tie.

A careful consideration of the description in connection with thedrawings will enable the reader to obtain a clear understanding of theinvention and its features. Therefore, a more lengthy description isregarded as unnecessary.

Minor changes in shape, size, and rearrangement of features andmaterials may be resorted to in actual practice if desired.

e claim:

1. As a new product of manufacture, an anti-creeper of the classdescribed comprising a substantially U-shaped member formed from asingle length of sturdy wire bent between its ends to form spacedconverging leg portions having spring coils intermediate their ends, andretaining means at opposite ends of said leg portions, said retainingmeans being detachably engaged with the edge portions of the base flangeof a rail.

2. As a new product of manufacture, an anticreeper of the classdescribed comprising a single length of wire bent between its ends toform a pair of converging spaced leg portions having their terminalsformed with flange engaging hooks and having their intermediate portionformed with spring coils, and having their opposite end portions formedwith a substantially arch-shaped bail constituting a handle.

3. As a new product of manufacture, an anti-creeper of the classdescribed comprising a single length of wire bent between its ends toform a pair of converging spaced leg portions having their terminalsformed with flange engaging hooks and having their intermediate portionformed with spring coils, and having their opposite end portions formedwith a substantially arch-shaped bail constituting a handle, the armportions of said bail being bent between their ends to form keepers atthe juncture of the arms and legs, and to dispose the bight portion ofthe handle in outwardly inclined relation to provide a rest for acrowbar or the like to facilitate application and removal of the handle.

In testimony whereof we aflix our signatures.

JAMES RICHARDS. NIHOLAS CORTESE.

